Al-Malik al-Ashraf takes Damascus from his nephew Dawud

ملك الملك الأشرف دمشق من ابن أخيه داود

c. 26 June 1229 CE · 2 Sha'ban 626 AH

On Monday, 2 Sha'ban 626, al-Malik al-Ashraf ibn al-Malik al-Adil took Damascus from his nephew Salah al-Din Dawud ibn al-Mu'azzam. Dawud had sought the help of his uncle al-Ashraf against his uncle al-Kamil, and al-Ashraf entered Damascus and swore to assist him; then al-Ashraf and al-Kamil reconciled. While Dawud and al-Ashraf were sitting in a tent, Izz al-Din Aybak, a mamluk of al-Mu'azzam and the greatest of the amirs, came in together with his son and told Dawud: «Get up and leave, the seizure is now», since he had been told that al-Ashraf meant to seize his companion. So he took Dawud out, and al-Ashraf could not prevent it, because Aybak had mounted all his army and they marched on Damascus. Al-Ashraf went and besieged the city until al-Kamil arrived, and the siege grew tight. The greatest hardship for Dawud was lack of money, because his wealth was at al-Karak and, trusting his uncle, he had brought none of it; he was obliged to sell the jewellery and clothing of his women. He went out to his uncle al-Kamil and offered to surrender Damascus on condition that al-Karak, the citadel of Shawbak, al-Ghawr, Nablus and those districts remain his, and that Aybak keep the citadel of Salkhad and its districts. Al-Kamil handed over Damascus and set his deputy in the citadel until his brother al-Ashraf handed over to him Harran, al-Ruha, al-Raqqa, Sarudj and Ras al-Ayn of al-Jazira; when he received them, he handed the citadel of Damascus to al-Ashraf ¹.